Office of Financial Aid

Week of February 18, 2013

2013-2014 FAFSA Reminder

In order to qualify for financial aid for the 2013-2014 academic year, you must complete the 2013-2014 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

You can complete your FAFSA online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. In order to apply you will need your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Please remember to include our school code, E00773, when completing your FAFSA and keep in mind that the school name will be listed as Chicago-Kent College of Law.

If you will not be attending Illinois Institute of Technology Downtown Campus for the 2013-2014 academic year, or you are not interested in applying for federal financial aid, please disregard this reminder.

If you have any questions please call the Office of Financial Aid at (312) 906-5180, or send an email to finaid@kentlaw.edu.

Spring 2013 Disbursement Schedule

All loan funds, federal and private, are sent directly to the school according to the disbursement schedule listed below.

Scheduled Disbursement Date: January 28, 2013

Spring Semester Scholarship Status

Chicago Kent Full Tuition Scholars and Honors Scholars

Please be aware that full tuition and Honors scholarships for continuing students are initially based on your fall enrollment as of January 14th. All full tuition and honors scholarship awards for continuing students will be adjusted to actual enrollment after the last day to add and drop classes.

Kent Scholarships Awarded for Continuing Students

Kent Scholarships for the spring 2013 semester have been posted to the accounts of all eligible students. If you have question about your scholarship eligibility or if there seems to be a problem with your scholarship award amount please contact the Office of Admissions at 312-906-5020.

Generally, in order to be eligible for your scholarship you must be enrolled in at least 12 credits. In some cases, the Office of Admissions allows graduating students to receive their scholarship when taking less than 12 credits. Please contact the Office of Admissions for further confirmation.

Spring Disbursement Process: Step-by-step

1. We must verify that you are eligible to receive the funds. This process can take 1-3 business days. When the funds are released the funds are then credited to your tuition account. You will receive an email from the Bursar's Office informing you that billing activity has occurred.
2. If a credit balance exists after the funds have been credited, the Bursar's Office generates a refund direct deposit or check for you. Please contact the Bursars for detail instructions on how to sign up for direct deposit.
3. If you have any questions regarding the status of your refund check or charges on your account, please contact the Bursar's Office at 312-567-3794, option 5.
If you have any questions regarding the financial aid funds that have been credited to your account, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.

Law 135 Annoucements:

Students that take Law course 135 during the spring semester should be mindful of the following consequences of dropping the class after they have already received their financial aid disbursements and tuition refund.

If you drop below the 6 credit hours, you will become ineligible for federal financial aid and all your aid will have to be cancelled. Sicne you will be considered below half-time, the grace period on your outstanding loans will begin. This may result in your first student loan payment being due as early as May.

Your financial aid may have to be adjusted which may result in a tuition balance that is immediatley due to the school.

Reminder: Financial Aid Contact Information

Did you miss the financial literacy workshops?

The Office of Financial Aid has hosted 3 financial literacy workshops over the past 2 months. Attendance at these workshops was required for continuing and first year summer-start students. If you were unable to attend one of these workshops, please complete the online Financial Awareness Counseling below:

Sign-in to StudentLoans.gov using your Federal Student Aid PIN and select the "Complete Financial Awareness Counseling" option on the left hand navigation bar. Please send us a copy of your confirmation showing that you completed the session so that we can satisfy your financial literacy requirement.

Planning to Study Abroad in Spring 2013?

If you plan to participate in one of Chicago-Kent's Study Abroad Programs during the Spring 2013 semester and require financial aid, please email the Office of Financial Aid and let us know as soon as possible. The financial aid process for the study abroad program can take 4 to 6 weeks. Please list the study abroad program name when you send your email.

A Note For 3L Students

Q: Are you a full-time graduating JD student that is planning to take less than 12 credits in either fall 2012 or spring 2013? If yes, please read the information below and follow the instructions to ensure that your financial aid disbursements for 2012-2013 are not delayed.

A:Your financial aid award and cost of attendance are based on your registration in the minimum credits required for your program and enrollment status. As a full-time day student, your initial cost of attendance is based on your enrollment in 12 credits per semester. We are aware that many full-time students take less than 12 credits in their last 2 semesters. For this reason, if you are taking less than 12 credits please be aware of the following:

In order to be eligible for federal loans you must be enrolled at least half time. Half-time for JD students is 6 credits. Unfortunately, if you plan to take less than 6 credits you are ineligible for federal loans and you must make alternative arrangements to pay your tuition balance.

Generally, in order to be eligible for your scholarship you must be enrolled in at least 12 credits. In some cases, the Office of Admissions allows graduating students to receive their scholarship when taking less than 12 credits. Please contact the Office of Admissions for further confirmation.

If you plan to take between 6 and 11 credits, it is best to send your enrollment intentions, for both the fall and spring semesters, to our office via email to prevent delays of your disbursement and refunds. Once we receive your enrollment intentions, we will customize your cost of attendance budget to reflect your projected enrollment. It is best to let us know your enrollment intentions at least 3 weeks before classes start to ensure that your financial aid is not delayed.

The Office of Financial Aid cautions students against borrowing up to the Cost of Attendance limit. Be advised that if you do not register for the credits that you have stated your financial aid may be reduced, resulting in a tuition balance due to the school immediately.

If your registration for the fall and spring terms are not for the same number of credit hours, your financial aid refund will not be for the same amount each term. Therefore, we ask that you budget accordingly.

Missing Required Documentation

To avoid delays, please submit any requested documentation as soon as possible.
Please follow the steps below to see if you still have missing requirements:

Log into the Illinois Institute of Technology's myIIT portal at the following link: https://my.iit.edu/.

Select the 'Finances' tab from the menu.

Required documents are listed in the Financial Aid Requirements channel.

Please note that completing the Financial Aid Awareness Counseling does not satisfy the Loan Entrance Counseling Requirement. It is an optional counseling session that covers the basics of financial literacy. The required counseling session is called Loan Entrance Counseling. Please see our website for more information: Financial Aid Required Documents

Once you complete your Master Promissory Notes (not loan application) and Loan Entrance Counseling via the Department of Education's website, it may take up to 2 weeks for your required document status on the myIIT portal to reflect this. If it has been over 2 weeks since your completion of a Promissory Note or Loan Entrance Counseling and your documents status on myIIT is still showing not received, please contact our office.

If you were awarded the Perkins Loan this academic year 2012-2013, please check your Kent email (or your IIT e-mail address on the welcome screen of your myIIT portal, as communications could be sent there), for information from the IIT Perkins Loan servicer, ECSI, on completing the Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling. Students that competed this requirement last academic year (2011-2012) are not required to complete this requirement again. This maybe marked as spam in your mailbox, but it is not. You will not be able to complete the promissory note online if ECSI does not have your information on file that is why we ask that you wait until you receive an email notification. However, if mid-August has passed and you have not completed this requirement, please contact ECSI directly at 1-888-549-3274 and state that you are attending the IIT Downtown Campus. Also, for more information see the Student Account's (formerly Bursar's Office) website at:

Don't Forget to Accept Your Awards

If you still have not accepted or declined your loans, please do so as soon as possible. You must use your myIIT account to accept/decline your loans. If you do not accept your loans, we cannot process them. That is why we urge you to accept them now to avoid delays with disbursement. If you do not wish to wish to receive any of the funds, you may decline the loan(s) using the myIIT portal.

Accept: If you wish to receive any portion of the loans still listed as offered, you must accept the funds. Also, please be aware that you may be required to complete a Promissory Note and Loan Entrance Counseling with Direct Loans atwww.studentloans.gov before the funds can be disbursed. Please refer to your 'Requirements' section on the myIIT portal.

Decline: If you do not wish to receive any of the funds still listed as offered please decline the loan(s) using your myIIT portal.

Still haven't received your 2012-2013 Financial Aid Award?

Has it been 3 weeks since you completed your FAFSA and you have not received a financial aid award for the 2012-2013 academic year? If so, follow these instructions to make sure your FAFSA information is sent to the DTC Office of Financial Aid.

Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov and view your Student Aid Report (SAR).Make sure the Downtown Campus school code is listed on your FAFSA. The DTC school code is E00773 (Listed as Chicago Kent). Once you correct the school code it will take 1 to 2 weeks to receive a Financial Aid award notification.

If you have the correct school code listed on your FAFSA, check your SAR comments. Your SAR comments will let you know if the data that you entered on your FAFSA has caused an error that prevents your FAFSA information from being transmitted to the school. If there is a problem with the data that you entered on your FAFSA, please update the data elements requested. Once you update the information, it will take 1 to 2 weeks to receive a Financial Aid award notification.

If your comment codes are showing no problems and you have E00773 listed as your school code please contact the Office of Financial Aid so that we can find out why you have not received an award.

Reminder: Direct Deposit Available

Please be aware that the university allows students the option of having their financial aid refunds direct deposited into their checking or savings account. The university encourages all students to sign up for direct deposit. Click here for more information on the new TouchNet service.

Bar study loan information

Bar Examination loans are intended to assist students in paying for bar preparation courses and meeting other financial needs while studying for the Bar Exam.

Students may submit the application for the Bar Exam Loan funds during their last year before graduation. The terms, conditions, and credit criteria for Bar Examination Loans are similar to those for alternative loan programs. Unfortunately, students with negative credit ratings are generally not eligible for Bar Exam loans.

To apply for a Bar Examination Loan, review the Bar Loan Information, on our website. Once your are approved, the lender will contact our office to certify your loan. The funds will be disbursed directly to you from the lender.

Free Credit Report

Did you know that you are now able to
receive a free credit report once every 12 months?
We encourage students to review their credit reports
annually to check for inaccuracies and identify any
suspicious activity.

To receive your free credit report,
please visit the following link: http://www.annualcreditreport.com.
This central site allows you to request a free credit
file disclosure, commonly called a credit report,
once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer
credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and
TransUnion.

Please be aware that other sites may
advertise free credit reports, but this is the only
site that is sponsored by the federal government and
the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. Other
sites may charge fees.